BALTIMORE Realtor James Crockett claimed legendary 2500...

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BALTIMORE Realtor James Crockett claimed legendary 2500 Eutaw Place for $117,500 at an auction last Friday -- a price he considers "a steal."

Mr. Crockett is convinced that with the Emersonian, the Esplanade and the Temple Gardens all undergoing a $35 million renovation, the area is bound to rebound in the near future.

Capt. Isaac Emerson, inventor of Bromo-Seltzer, built 2500 Eutaw Place for his home in 1895. The Reservoir Hill property has in recent years been but a shadow of its former self, housing offices since the 1950s.

Once a division of the state's Juvenile Services Department -- which has been there about 20 years -- moves out next month, Mr. Crockett plans to have an architect remove the dropped ceilings and office cubicles to determine how many of the building's original features can be restored, and whether the mansion could be used as professional offices.

Mr. Crockett, who hadn't been inside the building before preparing to bid on it, said he only recently heard that Capt. Emerson built the nearby Emersonian apartments just to block his wife's view of Druid Park lake from the mansion during a bitter divorce.